Twenty-four years ago the Padres earned a role in one of baseball's enduring mythologies when they denied the Cubs a World Series berth by snatching three playoff games in Mission Valley.

Matched now against one of the better Cubs teams of the last three decades, the Padres appear simply outmanned, incapable of thwarting whatever date with destiny may, or may not, await these Cubs.

Take the first two games of a series that will end tonight at Petco Park. In each game, the Padres jumped to a lead of at least two runs, yet the Cubs powered their way to victory, the second one a 9-6 decision last night before another vocal bipartisan crowd.

The Cubs have won five of the six contests between the teams largely because they seemingly can dial up whatever offense is needed. They have averaged more than seven runs in the six games, while batting .342 with seven home runs.

“They're doing this to a lot of teams,” Padres manager Bud Black said after Chicago improved its majors-best record to 38-21 with its ninth consecutive win.

Padres catcher Michael Barrett said it's encouraging that the Padres (23-37) have forced the Cubs to work so hard in these games. “We're playing with the best team in baseball,” said Barrett, who played for the Cubs from 2004 until last June, when the Padres traded for him. “We're battling it out with them, which is a good sign.”

The Padres again created rush-hour traffic against the Cubs, drawing seven walks one night after they collected eight walks.

But Cubs baserunners are proving more adept at finding home plate. The fastest way to do it is to hit a home run, and Chicago hit three of them last night. The Cubs also stole six bases in seven tries, the only out coming when Ronny Cedeno slid past second base and was tagged out by shortstop Khalil Greene.

Barrett noted that the Cubs have an on-base percentage of more than .400 in the six games against the Padres. “They're forcing us to pitch to them,” he said. When that happens, Cubs hitters are hitting a variety pitches, he added. Two of Chicago's homers came off change-ups. “They've shown that they're not just going to be sitting on fastballs,” Barrett said.

Speaking on the Padres' flagship radio station last year, Padres CEO Sandy Alderson mused that it's been since the Revolutionary War since the Cubs last won a World Series. Actually, the year was 1908, but it may feel longer to Cubs Nation, a legacy that Cubs manager Lou Piniella said should be of no concern to his players.

“We've asked them to let this year's team stand on its merits and leave it at that,” Piniella said. “It puts too much of a burden on you, and there's enough of a burden.”

Barrett, asked last night if this might be the Cubs' year, said his former teammates “have a lot of cylinders working for them and clicking at the same time right now.”

Cubs hitters such as Alfonso Soriano and Geovany Soto, aside from having soccer-star names, have made both Petco Park and Wrigley Field look small. Soriano belted his fourth homer off the Padres this season, a three-run shot off a change-up from rookie Carlos Guevara to raise the score to 9-3 in the eighth. Leading off the sixth, Soto broke a tie by homering off reliever Bryan Corey.

Padres starter Wil Ledezma, confronted by an offense that had batted .300 against lefties, got through the lineup the first time. But he then allowed seven baserunners and three runs over 1 2/3 tedious innings to bring the score to 3-3. In his 4 2/3 innings, Ledezma threw 100 pitches, 56 of them strikes.

“I lost my mechanics and was thinking too much about bases on balls,” said Ledezma, who issued five walks, one of them an intentional pass to Soriano.